Covenantal Journey

Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. For darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will appear over you. Nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn. Lift up your eyes and look around; they all gather together, they come to you; your sons shall come from far away, and your daughters shall be carried on their nurses’ arms. Then you shall see and be radiant; your heart shall thrill and rejoice, because the abundance of the sea shall be brought to you, the wealth of the nations shall come to you. A multitude of camels shall cover you, the young camels of Midian and Ephah; all those from Sheba shall come. They shall bring gold and frankincense, and shall proclaim the praise of the Lord. 

In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, asking, "Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage." When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him; and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. They told him, "In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet: 'And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who is to shepherd my people Israel.'" Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, "Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage."

When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.

Last Sunday we heard the scripture for New Year’s Day.  You’ll remember that the first reading from the Book of Ecclesiastes had the old teacher looking back on his long life and try to answer the question of what is the meaning of life.  You’ll also remember that the gospel was from Matthew about Jesus coming and dividing the Christians into two groups, those who cared about the sick, poor, imprisoned and marginalised and those who didn’t.  For Matthew, this was about how Christians treated other Christians.  He was determined that no matter how long we have in this life, we need to live this life acting as people in covenant with God by how we act toward the least among us.

Last week we looked at what covenant is, the expectations of Covenant, and what we need to do when we fall out of covenant.

This week we hear the Prophet Isaiah declare that the light of God has come into the world as the people of the Babylonian exile return to Jerusalem.  The prophet promises the day has come that the way of God will again be known in the world.

The Gospel tells of the wise ones visit to the Christ child in his home.  They travel together.  They come from different places and are set to a common task.  They have, in effect, a covenant of travel.  They share a common purpose and goal.  And they listen to new information.  When they are directed in a dream to travel home by a different route, they change their plans - new information requires a new direction...

During these first weeks of our new year, we will consider what it means to be a covenantal  church, a people in covenant with God and one another.

This morning, I’ve handed out a copy of  the thoughts from the Pastor’s Study Summer 2006 where you’ll find my summary of  Dr. Elizabeth Nordbeck’s  keynote addresses to the Northern California Nevada Conference in 2006.  We’ll read it through together and have an opportunity to comment on the insights she continues to bring to us.

Start with me five lines from the bottom of the second paragraph where it begins 

“Covenant, she reminded us, is something that we enter by choice. It is not a quid pro quo. It is historical and relational. It is active, requiring discernment and spiritual maturity. Covenant, she said, is a work in progress. She gave us four areas where covenant needs to be worked on and ten descriptions of what covenant is.”

Today, we will read these areas and descriptions and we will look at again over the next few weeks.

“Four areas that Dr. Nordbeck identified as needing work are as follows:

1. We need to pay attention beyond our specific church. As Congregationalists we are thoughtful, reflective, and independent. And we are held together with other congregations in our covenant. We call this the United Church of Christ and we need to work on clarity in this and all our covenant relationships.

2. We need new ways to establish our covenantal ties. When the writers of the Salem Covenant put down their simple words in 1629, they all knew each other very well and were mostly related to each other. Unlike the writers of that early covenant, most of us joining the church do not share a lengthy history together. We have to work on the relationship between one another and between our churches. It is in relationship that we build trust and loyalty and these elements are essential before a covenant can be established.

3. We must shift our focus from diversity to unity in God's mission. Diversity is a step along the journey with Christ, not the end. Diversity must pull together in the service of the whole. We must strive for unity as churches, associations, conferences, and as a denomination.

4. We must work on a healthy realism and practicalism alongside the idealism of unity. In our efforts toward welcoming all, we must also be able to name "sin". There are expectations of how we will live together.

So, these were Prof. Nordbeck's areas to be worked on.”

(The congregation was given the opportuity to respond to these four areas. Reading further from the 2006 news letter.)

“On the next day, she gave us her ten descriptions of "what covenant is". Here they are in brief.

1. Covenant means getting to know one another. It is relational between persons, churches, associations, conferences, and the national setting.

2. Covenant has to do with the whole health of the UCC. If someone is only a critic of the denomination or of their conference, or their association, or even their local church, then it is not the right fit for them and they need to find another place to be.

3. Covenant has limits. There are limits to inclusivity that have to do with behavior, theology, and attitude. Covenant has boundaries. And the leadership of the church is responsible to maintain these boundaries.

4. In covenant apathy is as deadly as anger.

5. Covenant means renewing commitments periodically. It means renewal, reconsideration, and recommitment. This is true in relations to the wider church and in relation to the local church. It is a work in progress.

(The congregation responded to the first five before going on to the next five.)

6. Covenant is about the church. It is about "who are we" not "who am I".

7. Covenant demands honest communication and intense listening.

8. Covenant demands openness to new occasions and new duties that require us to leave the way we have always done something for the way that we are being led to do something now.

9. Covenant requires that we share the burden for the health of our churches. It requires us to be involved in our denomination as partners.

10. (Which Prof. Nordbeck called the most important of all) Covenant is about "us" the whole church. It takes place in many settings but it is about all of us. If any part is not healthy the whole suffers.”

(The congregation was invted to respond the the last five descriptions of what covenant is.)

Last week, I asked you to consider making “Living more faithfully in all your covenants”  Your resolution for 2009. and to use Matthew 18:15-17 as a guide for how to keep one another in covenant.

(Matthew 18:15-17 .

15"If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. 16But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that 'every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.' 17If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector.)

The wise ones bring their gifts to the baby, they bring them as a group traveling with a specific mission and they travel using the signs and knowledge they have at the time.    They make mistakes and they change direction.

They journey for a holy cause.

The prophet Isaiah promise that light has come into the world.  Congregationalists know that light to continually comes into the world through the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. That is leading us to a life deeper in our relationship - no - our covenant with God and with each other. Talk with each other about what it means to be in covenant as partners, as families, as citizens, as church members, and Christians.  Talk with one another and explore what it looks like when we live in covenant together.